Early Champions of Liberty

The chief purpose in the establishment of states and constitutional orders was that individual property rights might be secured…It is the peculiar function of state and city to guarantee to every man the free and undisturbed control of his own property.  -- Cicero (106 BC – 43 BC)

And unnatural, irrational, sinful, wicked, unjust, devilish, and tyrannical it is, for any man whatsoever — spiritual or temporal, clergyman or layman — to appropriate and assume unto himself a power, authority and jurisdiction to rule, govern or reign over any sort of men in the world without their free consent; and whosoever doth it — whether clergyman or any other whatsoever — do thereby as much as in them lies endeavor to appropriate and assume unto themselves the office and sovereignty of God (who alone doth, and is to rule by His will and pleasure), and to be like their creator, which was the sin of the devils', who, not being content with their first station but would be like God; for which sin they were thrown down into hell,…   --  John Lilburne (1614 - 1657)

Where there is no property there is no injustice. – John Locke (1632 - 1704)

The price of liberty is constant vigilance. –- Thomas Jefferson (1743 - 1826)

Those who expect to reap the blessings of liberty must undergo the fatigues of supporting it. – Thomas Paine (1737 - 1809)

Let women share the rights, and she will emulate the virtues of man; for she must grow more perfect when emancipated. --  Mary Wollstonecraft (1759 - 1779)

The accursed system of slavery! To sustain that system, there is general willingness to destroy liberty of speech and of the press, and to mob or murder all who oppose it. – William Lloyd Garrison (1805 - 1879)

All taxes, levied upon a man’s property for the support of government, without his consent, are mere robbery; a violation of his natural right to property.  -- Lysander Spooner (1808 - 1887)

The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities. – Ayn Rand (1905 – 1982)

These guys (and gals) don’t know the meaning of the word “politically correct.” You can’t say they are not outspoken. Hat tip to Jim Powell’s 2000 book The Triumph of Liberty : A 2,000-year History, Told Through the Lives of Freedom's Greatest Champions for the list of names. These names (and there are many others) come out of the first section.

Cicero was admired by John Locke. Cicero was killed by Marc Anthony (not directly—he ordered some thugs to do it) for criticizing  him. Both John Locke and Cicero were read and studied by the Founding Fathers.

A lot of libertarians claim Ayn Rand as their own. But she always said she wasn’t one. She had her own philosophy—objectivism. Matter of fact, she criticized the libertarian philosophy. She also said, to be fair, she wasn’t a conservative either. But she definitely wasn’t a Leftist. The Left was criticized most by her. She was a strong supporter and advocator for the free-market system. What’s interesting is even though she was an atheist she still respected Christianity. The fanatical atheistic fascists who want to remove God from the dollar bill should take a lesson from her.